CIA destroys 911 inside job evidence

Yet again, we experience Deja Vu' with this Administration blocking efforts to investigate something with regard to 9/11. I'm reminded of Able Danger. I'm reminded of Sibel Edmonds. I'm reminded of THE ATTACKS THEMSELVES. - Jon

Source: news.yahoo.com

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer Sat Dec 15, 6:25 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The controversy over destroyed CIA interrogation tapes is shaping up as a turf battle involving the courts, Congress and the White House, with the Bush administration telling its constitutional coequals to stay out of the investigation.

The Justice Department says it needs time and the freedom to probe the destruction of hundreds of hours of recordings of two suspected terrorists. After Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused congressional demands for information Friday, the Justice Department filed late-night court documents urging a federal judge not to begin his own inquiry.

all from 911blogger.com

what was on those tapes was/is a large part of the government's "evidence" for the "Official Conspiracy Theory" (OCT) of 9/11 and the "war on terror." You should also emphasize that NO TRANSCRIPTS OF THOSE SESSIONS WERE EVER MADE. All we have now are summaries, provided by the torturers themselves.

Thus, crucial "evidence" for the 9/11 OCT and the "war on terror" has been reduced to a series of unrecorded torture sessions, the summaries of which have been provided by the torturers themselves--the same people who destroyed the tapes.

In the past, this "evidence" was always shrouded in "gov't secrecy," so not much could be said about it. Now that we know the tapes were destroyed and that no transcripts were made, we can suddenly see very deeply into this falsified aspect of of the OCT.

As all lawyers are taught, destruction of evidence raises a presumption of guilt against the person who did that. Bush and Cheney led the government intervention and destruction of the evidence at the 9/11 scenes. Accordingly, it is Bush and Cheney who must prove the causes of 9/11 or suffer the claim made by a growing number of people each day that the 9/11 events were an inside job. The American system of justice requires that Bush and Cheney be afforded the opportunity to present the evidence they have to vindicate their behavior. An impeachment proceeding in the House is the method contemplated by the Founders to protect the American people from high crimes and misdemeanors committed by their leaders. It is time to resort to the procedures to insure justice is achieved on behalf of the American people.

... the media is full of stories about the destruction of CIA videotapes and sorting though this story is now our top priority. We have added two categories to deal with all the new information emerging, Destruction of CIA Interrogation Tapes and High Value Detainees, which you can find under the ‘War on Terrorism’ Outside Iraq meta-category on the front page. The new events are:

The story breaks: Last week, the CIA admitted it had videotaped detainee interrogations, apparently to pre-empt a New York Times story, which appears to have been inspired by a new development in the Zacarias Moussaoui case. All hell then broke lose, oversight committees suggested CIA Director Hayden had misled the public in his statement, some questioned whether the CIA manager who was blamed, , was just a scapegoat, and Robert Baer had some relevant comments. A CIA officer also appeared in the media with some revelations about waterboarding.

Who knew what when: Initially, the CIA got control of the prisoners from the FBI, without Attorney General Ashcroft complaining. The CIA started videotaping interrogations of high value detainees in spring 2002. Some congressional leader were detainee interrogation program, but most members of the House and Senate intelligence committees were kept in the dark. The CIA told some congressional leaders about the tapes and was told not to destroy the tapes. The tapes were viewed by CIA lawyers. The judge in the Moussaoui trial requested some tapes, but got nothing. The CIA later became worried officers would be prosecuted, and the Moussaoui judge asked again. The CIA then destroyed the videos around the time the media broke the “black sites” story. The House Intelligence Committee was informed over a year later, the Senate Intelligence Committee after the scandal broke.

What may have been on the tapes: Several high-ranking militants, including Hambali, were waterboarded. The use of “enhanced” interrogation techniques by the US is bound up with the story of Abu Zubaida, arrested in Pakistan in late March 2002. Initially, the FBI is said to have enjoyed success with rapport-building techniques, but the CIA complained and a new team arrived led by two psychologists who used methods they had learned on a simulated KGB program on Zubaida. There were no clear legal guidelines for interrogations at this point. Alarmed by these techniques, Another psychologist and the FBI then left, not wanting to have anything to do with the “enhanced” methods. CIA headquarters closely monitored Abu Zubaida’s interrogation and President Bush took a personal interest in Abu Zubaida’s interrogation, but was shielded from knowledge of harsh techniques. The administration also exaggerated Abu Zubaida’s intelligence value. Later, a secret Justice Department ruling authorized detainee abuse and another another declared all CIA interrogation techniques legal. The CIA banned waterboarding some time in 2006.

Sidebars:
9/11 Commission: The 9/11 Commission was unhappy with the information it was getting from detainees, but an attempt to get direct access failed, and it did not receive the CIA interrogation tapes.
Gitmo: The FBI is currently building cases against Gitmo prisoners in case the military commissions collapse, senior defense officials asked for convictions before the 2008 elections, and a legal advisor interfered with the prosecutions.
Black sites: The CIA’s black sites are still operating and President Bush has re-authorized enhanced interrogation methods.

Elsewhere, Zacarias Moussaoui’s flat was allegedly raided after the embassy bombings, London police could not find Moussaoui’s girlfriend after 9/11, and Moussaoui’s London connection was played down at his trial. In August 2001, a key Justice Department unit was not consulted about the request to search his belongings and the FBI failed to reconsider getting a criminal warrant when the FISA warrant application was blocked.

Arms dealer Victor Bout helped the Taliban ship gold, began to work with the US after 9/11, hinted at government connections, and evaded arrest, apparently with US help.

“Abu Omar” was recruited by the CIA in Albania and moved to Italy, where he was kidnapped by the CIA. Italian authorities then issued arrest warrants for the CIA officers involved in the kidnapping.

Al-Qaeda leader Khallad bin Attash applied for a US visa in 1999, but the CIA missed three opportunities to learn more about him. If they had not been missed, it would have led the US to more information about 9/11 hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi.

The CIA bizarrely stopped reviewing NSA transcripts of al-Qaeda calls after a short time in 2000, and reduced the FBI’s access to NSA information in 2001.

Miscellaneous entries include ones about the US military knowing Osama bin Laden’s location, but failing to attack him, Pakistan’s ISI protecting Abu Zubaida, bin Laden paying US$ 1 million to the prime minister of Pakistan, and a CIA operation to track militants passing through Dubai airport.

Abu Omar | CIA Tapes | Khallad bin Attash | Victor Bout | Zacarias Moussaoui